Big Kids

The babies that were born at the end of March/first of April are getting big.  Everyone is doing well, and it makes me think about weaning.

Amy

Annie

Thumper

After Clover lost her kids I decided to wean Coffee’s boy, Xerxes, because she thought she should get milked too.

Sam and Xerxes

Well, in hindsight, I noticed that Coffee seemed to always have a full udder in the few days before weaning, and I thought her not wanting to stand still for me to milk was because her boy was standing outside the pen crying for her.  I was wrong.

I didn’t realize it was because of how much he hurt her while nursing.  The milk on the left is from one side of her, and I’ve obviously aggravated an injury by milking her.  The bag is supposed to look like Clover’s on the right.  Hopefully, she’ll heal and I can keep milking her.  If it doesn’t clear up in a few days, I’ll try to gradually dry her up.  Since she was already not letting him nurse, I’m not getting as much milk as usual from her, and she might end up drying up on her own.

Coffee

I knew it always looked painful when those kids would nurse.  They might look sweet when they are sleeping with each other,

Pippen and Bandit

but when mom stands up, they attack.  That dark spot on the far right of her udder just below her tail, is a place they’ve sliced open with their teeth. (You can click on the picture to make it larger.)

Pistol and kids

Some of the girls are starting to get thin.  It’s hard to keep up making milk when they get so big.

Litha

Looks like I should wean some more kids.

Sharing with The Good. The Random. The Fun.